Continuous strand takeup



Nov. 17, 1959 w. BERTHOLD 2,913,190

CONTINUOUS STRAND TAKEUP Filed Jan. is, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR WBERTHOLD grim/v5) I Nov. 11, 1959 w. BERTHOLD CONTINUOUS STRAND TAKEUPFiled Jan. 18, 1956 ma. 3 m l F 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ergue JI/ b C/ufc/7l/VVEN TOR W 85 R THOL 0 Wk ,4 TORA/E) United States Patent CONTINUOUSSTRAND TAKEUP Wolf Berthold, Andover, Mass, assignor to Western ElectricCompany, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a

corporation of New York Application January 18, 1956, Serial No. 559,861

'5 Claims. (Cl. 242-25) 'known that rapid acceleration of high inertialoads may "require driving means vastly more powerful than would berequired if the steady load only were to be considered.

One example is found in the takeup end of continuous strand processingequipment such as continuous extruders advancing strands at rapidconstant linear speeds where it is necessary, after the transfer of astrand from a full reel to an empty reel, to accelerate the speed of theempty 'reel to the top speed required to take up the strand.

When processing strands at slow speeds it was possible to operate such acontinuous process with only one takeup by inserting between the processand takeup an accumulator or festooning device which would accumulatethe strand while the filled takeup reel was stopped and removed from thetakeup, a new empty takeup reel put on the takeup, the strand attachedto the empty reel and the empty reel brought up to speed. However,

takeups for higher speeds are built as dual takeups operated with twotakeup reels which are mounted coaxially side by side on two separatearbors. In one machine, the distributor which distributes the strandevenly between the flanges of one reel is mounted on a slide. When thereel is filled the distributor is moved along this slide to the otherreel so that the end points of distributor travel will now coincide withthe flanges of the empty reel. Usually there are projecting arms orteeth attached to the adjacent flanges of the two reels to insure thatthe strand is transferred to the empty reel and is taken up thereon. Thestrand between full and empty reel may not be out until at least part ofthe second layer is taken up on the new reel so as to lock the strand tothe new reel. Otherwise the strand would slip on the new reel and theprocess of taking up would stop. At the moment of switchover, the speedof rotation of the takeup reels has to be increased in the ratio of thediameters of the empty to the full reel in order to maintain uniformlinear strand speed. To accomplish this theoretically, instantaneousacceleration of the inertia of the reels and associated machine membersrequires a tremendous accelerating torque in the driving mechanism.Since the theoretically necessary torque can usually not be built intothe machine, recourse is taken again to accumulator festooning devicesor dancer rolls. At very high speeds these latter devices begin todevelop troubles of their own because due to their own inertia theycannot respond fast enough and also because the amount of strand whichmust be accumulated during reel acceleration becomes too great andunwieldly. The dif- Patented Nov. 17, 1959 'ice 2 ficulties arising fromthe accumulator and too'slow an acceleration will therefore frequentlybe the limiting factor of the speed of the machine aggregate even thoughother parts of it could be operated faster. If the reels could beaccelerated at a faster pace the entire machine aggregate could beoperated faster.

One object of the present invention is a drive apparatus which is simplein structure yet is capable of bringing machinery up to speed at higherthan conventional rates of acceleration without requiring excessivelyhigh powered driving sources.

In one species of the invention, a main shaft of a machine is driven bya motor through a clutch or a variable speed changer and an auxiliarypower means including a flywheel is driven faster than the shaft toaccelerate the speed of the shaft when connected thereto. Specificallythe flywheel which runs considerably faster than the desired drive shaftspeed is adapted to be connected to the drive shaft through a clutchcapable of transmitting very high torque for a limited period thusimparting part of the kinetic energy of the flywheel to the machinedrive shaft in an extremely short time. The rotational speed of theflywheel naturally will decrease during this time but as its top speedis greater than that desired for the main shaft, the top speed of themain shaft will be assured. As soon as the drive shaft has reached thedesired speed, the flywheel is declutched from the machine drive shaftand is clutched to the driving end of a low torque clutch which ispositively driven from the motor but at a faster speed than the machinedrive shaft. The flywheel will now be brought up to its original speedagain over a period of time which is long when compared to the rapidacceleration time of the machine drive shaft. In this manner theflywheel draws only a moderate amount of energy from the driving motor.The flywheel in fact accumulates a great amount of kinetic energy fromthe driving motor at a low rate and releases it to the machine at a veryrapid rate.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description when considered in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a schematic front elevationalview of one species of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of another species of the apparatus,portions thereof being shown in section, and Y Fig. 3 is a schematicwiring diagram of the electrical controls of the apparatus.

The species of the invention shown in Fig. 1 includes a main shaft 1 ofa machine connected to a motor 2 through a clutch or variable speedchanger of the commercially known type 3. A flywheel 4 is supported forfree rotation on the shaft 1 and is operatively connected to the motor 2by a jack shaft 5 and the belt and pulley connections 6 and 7. A unit 3,serving as the machine to be driven or an inertia load for the mainshaft 1, is fixed to the main shaft beyond the unit 3 from the motor 2.A low torque slip clutch 8 is adapted to complete the connection betweenthe flywheel 4 and the driving means 5, 6 and 7 to the motor 2 which isrendered effective during an interval of time while the main shaft isdriven to drive the machine to drive the flywheel .4 at a faster rate ofspeed than the main's'haft 1. When desired, the kinetic energy of theflywheel may be imparted to the shaft 1 by disconnecting the clutch 8and connecting the clutch 9 to connect the flywheel directly to the mainshaft. In this manner, the main shaft 1 of the machine is accelerated toa speed higher than the conventional speed by utilizing the drivingsource'initially incorporated in the machine. The species of theinvention shown in 'Fig";"2is"som e.

what schematically illustrated as certain parts thereof are old and wellknown in the art. A strand is received from conventional strandadvancing unit (not shown),, such as a driven capstan which receives thestrand from any desired processing unit (not shown), such as acontinuous extruder for extruding, for example, a plastic sheath on thestrand which may be a wire. The strand 10 makes a plurality of turnsabout a fixed position grooved roll 11 and floating grooved roll 12 of adancer roll unit 14. The roll 11 is rotatably supported on a fixedspindle 15 while a spindle 16 for the dancer roll 12 is supported by asleeve 17 slidably mounted in the conventional manner on a rod 18. Thedancer roll unit 14 functions to store a predetermined maximum length ofthe strand 10 when slack occurs in the strand. The amount of wire storedin the dancer roll unit depends on the distance the lower roll 12 isallowed to move relative to a given position below the roll 11. In thepresent embodiment of the invention, with the apparatus operating at aspeed faster than conventional rate to take up a strand which issupplied at a faster linear speed than is possible in conventionalcontinuous takeup apparatus, there is an interval in the operationimmediately following the transfer of the strand from a full to an emptyreel when the dancer roll unit will not be adapted to absorb all theslack in the strand. Thus the need for an auxiliary power means (theflywheel) adapted to overdrive the empty reel and produce a temporaryoverspeed which will use up the strand stored in the dancer roll unit 14and cause operation of a switch 20.

When leaving the dancer roll unit 14, the strand 10 travels through anaperture 21 in a conventional distributor arm 22 which is reciprocatedalternately between pairs of limits for reels 23 and 24. Reciprocationcontinues at one position until that reel is substantially filled oruntil the predetermined length of the strand has been Wound thereon,after which the distributor 22 will be moved to the next position overan empty reel to transfer the strand from one reel to the other and tocontinue its operation distributing the strand on the second reel.

In continuous takeup apparatus, additional means are employed to catchand hold the strand as it passes from one reel to another while othermeans severs the strand between the reels, thereby fastening thetrailing end of the severed strand to the filled reel and securing theleading end of the strand to the empty reel to assure winding of thestrand thereon. These means are well known in the art and it is notbelieved necessary to disclose them to illustrate the present invention.There is a switch 25 positioned in the path of the distributor ordistributor arm 22 to be actuated into closed position thereby as ittravels from one distributing position to another to transfer the strandfrom a filled reel to an empty reel.

The reels 23 and 24 are removably supported by their respective spindles28 and 29 rotatably carried by arms 30 (only one of which is shown). Thearms 30 are pivotally supported on rods 31 carried by rigidly mountedbrackets 32. Pulleys 35 and 36 fixedly mounted on spindles 28 and 29 areadapted to engage belts 37 and 38. The belts 37 and 38 extend aroundfixed position pulleys 39 and 40, rotatably supported in the brackets32, and around pulleys 41 and 42 fixedly mounted on a drive or mainshaft 44. The pulleys 41 and 42 on the drive shaft 44 are positioned outof vertical alignment with the pulleys 39 and so as to effectively tiltthe belts 37 and 38 at like angles to permit the pulleys 35 and 36, whenmoved with their spindles 28 and 29 and their respective reels 23 and 24beyond vertical alignment with the pulleys 39 and 40, to rest upon thebelts 37 and 38 sufficiently to be driven thereby. The supportingstructures for the reels permit movement of a filled reel out of drivingposition away from its belt 37-38 and into a. loading position where thefilled reel may be removed and an p y reel mounted on th pindle- In thisembodiment of the invention there is a single power means, illustratedas an electric motor 46, having a shaft 47 which drives a pulley 48 andthe conventional variable speed unit 49. The unit 49 includes theconventional variable belt drive wherein the belt, extending around(what may be called) the input shaft 47 and an output shaft 50, travelsover companion pairs of the conventional truncated cone-shaped pulleymembers adjustable toward and away from each other in the usual mannerso that a constant speed drive from the power means 46 to the inputshaft 47 may produce a highly variable output speed for the shaft 50.The inner structure of the unit 47 and the means for controlling it arewell known in the art and for that reason, it is not believed necessarythat these features be disclosed to illustrate the present invention.A'pulley 51 mounted on the output shaft 50 is connected directly to thedrive shaft 44 through a belt 52 and a pulley 53. The pulley 48 isconnected to a low torque slip clutch member 55 through a belt 56 and apulley 57, the pulley being mounted for free rotation on the shaft 44. Aflywheel 60 is supported by a bearing 61 for free rotation on the driveshaft 44. A high torque slip clutch 62 is fixedly mounted at 63 on thedrive shaft 44. A coil 65 for the low torque slip clutch is shownschematically in Figs. 2 and 3 while a coil 66 for the high torque slipclutch is also shown in these figures.

Before considering the operation of this species of the invention,attention is directed to Fig. 3, where the electrical control means isshown schematically. The source of electrical energy is represented by abattery 70 disposed between two main circuit lines 71 and 72. There aretwo relays 73 and 74, the relay 73 having a normally closed contact 75and normally open contacts 76 and 77 while the relay 74 has a normallyclosed contact 78 and normally open contacts 79 and 80. A switch 81 maybe actuated manually momentarily when the apparatus begins its operationto complete a circuit from line 71 through switch 81, relay 73 to line72 at connection 82. Energization of the relay 73 will open contact 75and close contacts 76 and 77. When contact 76 is closed, a lockingcircuit for the relay 73 will be completed from line 71 at connection 83through normally closed contact 78, closed contact 76, relay 73 to line72 at connection 82. In this manner, the relay 73 will be held operateduntil contact 78 is opened. Closing of contact 77 will complete acircuit from line 71 at connection 84, through closed contact 77,winding 65 of clutch 55 to line 72. In this manner, the driving meansincluding the belt 56 and its pulleys 48 and 57 for the flywheel 60 isconnected to the power means 46 to cause driving of the (flywheel at aspeed faster than the speed of rotation of the shaft 44. This drivingconnection between the motor 46 and the flywheel will continue until thedistributor 22 transfers the strand 10 from the substantially filledreel 23 to the empty reel 24. During this movement the distributorswitch 25 will be actuated momentarily into closed position to energizerelay 74, operating its contact 78 into open position and its contacts79 and into closed positions. Opening of contact 78 will de-energizerelay 73 allowing contact 75 to close and contacts 76 and 77 to open.Opening of contact 76 opens the circuit to relay 73 while opening ofcontact 77 opens the circuit to winding 65 for the clutch 55. Closing ofcontact 75 and operating of contact 80 into closed position completes alocking circuit for the relay 74 from line 71 at connection 86, throughcontacts 75 and 80, relay 74 to line 72 at connection 87. This circuitwill be held closed to hold the relay 74 operated until contact 75 isopened. Closing of contacts 79 will complete a circuit from line 71 atconnection 88, through contact 79 and winding 66 of clutch 62, atconnection 89 of line 72. When switch 25 is closed, a circuit iscompleted initially from line 71 at connection 90 through switch 25,relay 74, through line 72 at connection 87.

The switch 20 of the dancer ro'll unit 14 functions during subsequentoperations of the apparatus after the driving force of the flywheel, ineach instance, has been utilized to accelerate the speed of rotation ofthe shaft 44and the empty reel 24 to take up the excess slack in thestrand or wire accumulated in the dancer roll unit 14 and move the lowerroll 12 up to a position where the switch 20 will be operated intoclosed position. When the switch 20 is closed, a circuit is completedfrom line 71 at connection 92 through switch 20 and relay 73 to line 72at connection 82. When this takes place, the cycle is repeated in thatthe clutch 62 is disconnected fromthe flywheel by de-energizing thewinding 66 through de-energization of the relay 74 and at the same timethe winding 65 of clutch 55 is energized to connect the flywheel to itsdrive means to be driven thereby at a faster rate of speed than theshaft for the next transfer of the strand from the reel 24 when filledto an empty reel 23. The schematic wiring diagram does not show acontrolling connection with the motor circuit which is necessary torender the controls in Fig. 2 unoperable until the motor 46 isenergized.

In preparing this species of the invention for operation, the strandfrom the extruder or other processing apparatus is threaded through itsadvancing means around the rolls 11 and 12 of the dancer roll unit 14through the guiding aperture 21 of the distributor 22 where the leadingend of the strand is secured in a conventional manner to (empty) reel23. Motor 46 is then energized and switch 81 (Fig. 3) is momentarilyclosed. The variable driving means or unit 49 driven by the motor andoperatively connected to the shaft 44 causes driving of the shaft todrive the belts 37 and 38 at a variable rate of speed while thedistributor reciprocates between the limits adjacent reel 23 touniformly distribute the strand on the reel until it is substantiallyfilled (as shown in Fig. 2). During this interval, the power means ormotor 46 has caused the flywheel 60 to rotate in the direction of theshaft 44 and at a faster rate of speed. When the strand 10 istransferred from the substantially filled reel 23 to the empty reel 24,switch 25 will be operated into closed position to cause disengagementof clutch 55 with the flywheel 60 and engagement of the clutch 62 withthe flywheel to connect the flywheel to the shaft whereby the flywheelwill accelerate the speed of rotation of the shaft and thereby the emptyreel 24. Acceleration of the main shaft 44 to bring the empty reel 24 tothe desired starting speed will also cause acceleration of the variationof the variable unit 49 to drive the main shaft at the starting speed.When this has been accomplished the flywheel is disconnected. As soon asthe strand has been transferred from the filled reel 23 to the emptyreel 24 and severed between the reels, the filled reel may be moved awayfrom its driving means, removed from its spindle 28 and an empty reelmounted in its place on the spindle. When the rotating force of theflywheel has been utilized to accelerate the speed of the empty reel 24to that desired to continue taking up the strand at the constant linearspeed, the excess strand absorbed by the dancer roll unit 14 will beremoved to move the roll 12 upwardly until the sleeve 17 actuates theswitch into closed position to energize relay 73, cause de-energizationof relay 74 and resulting in disengagement of clutch 62 with theflywheel and engagement of clutch 55 therewith.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simplyillustrative of the application of the principles of the invention.Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled inthe art which will embody the principles of the invention an fall withinthe spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A continuous strand takeup apparatus, in combination with adistributor actuable to distribute given lengths of a strand, advancedlongitudinally at a constant linear speed, on takeup reels andintermittently transfer the strand from each reel when substantiallyfilled to an empty reel, of a single motor energized continuously duringoperation of the apparatus, variable means driven continuously by themotor to cause driving of the reels at decreasing rates of speed withincreasing lengths of turns of the strand on one of the reels, aflywheel, means operatively connecting the flywheel to the motor duringeach takeup interval to drive the flywheel at a speed faster than thespeed of the reels during taking up the strand on one of the reels, andan element actuable by the distributor to cause disconnection of theflywheel from its drive means and cause connection of the flywheel withthe drive means for the reels when the strand is transferred to theempty reel, so that the flywheel will accelerate the speed of the emptyreel.

2. A continuous strand takeup apparatus, in combination with adistributor actuable to distribute given lengths of a strand, advancedlongitudinally at a constant linear speed, on takeup reels andintermittently transfer the strand from each reel when substantiallyfilled to an empty reel, of a single motor energized continuously duringoperation of the apparatus, a variable unit driven by the motor tocausedriving of the reels at decreasing rates of speed from a startingspeed with increasing lengths of turns of the strand on one of thereels, a flywheel, means driven by the motor and adapted for operativeconnection with the flywheel during taking up the strand on one of thereels, an element operable by the distributor when transferring thestrand from the substantially filled reel to the empty reel to causedisconnection of the flywheel from its drive means and cause connectionof the flywheel to the drive means for the reels so that the flywheelwill accelerate the speed of the empty reel and accelerate the variableunit to drive the empty reel at the starting speed.

3. A continuous strand takeup apparatus, in combination with adistributor actuable to distribute given lengths of a strand, advancedlongitudinally at a constant linear speed, on takeup reels andintermittently transfer the strand from each reel when substantiallyfilled to an empty reel, of a single motor energized continuously duringoperation of the apparatus, a variable speed unit driven by the motor tocause driving of the reels at decreasing rates of speed from a startingspeed with increasing lengths of turns of the strand on one of thereels, a flywheel, drive means for the flywheel operatively c0nnected tothe motor, a first clutch operable to connect the flywheel to its drivemeans to cause driving of the flywheel at a speed at least equal to thestarting speed of the reels during taking up the strand on one of thereels, 2. second clutch interposed between the flywheel and the variablespeed unit, and an element actuable by the distributor transferring thestrand from the substantially filled reel to the empty reel to causedisconnection of the first clutch and connection of the second clutch sothat the rotating force of the flywheel added to the drive means for thereel will accelerate the speed of the empty reel to the starting speed.

4. A continuous strand takeup apparatus, in combination with adistributor actuable to distribute given lengths of a strand, advancedlongitudinally at a constant linear speed, on one of two initially emptytakeup reels removably mounted on individual aligned spindles, andintermittently transfer the strand from one of the reels whensubstantially filled with the given length of the strand to the otherempty reel, a single motor, a main shaft supported for rotation, meansdriven by the main shaft to drive the spindles, a variable speed unitdriven by the motor to drive the main shaft at decreasing speeds fromits maximum speed to cause driving of the reels at decreasing rates ofspeed with increasing lengths of turns of the strand on the reel beingfilled, a flywheel supported free to rotate on the main shaft, meansdriven by the motor to drive the flywheel at a speed faster than themain shaft, and means operable to connect the flywheel to the main shaftto accelerate the speed of the main shaft and the empty reel when thestrand is transferred by the distributor thereto.

5. A continuous strand takeup apparatus, in combination with adistributor actuablc to distribute given lengths of a strand, advancedlongitudinally at a constant linear speed, on one of two initially emptytakeup reels removably mounted on individual aligned spindles, andintermittently transfer the strand from one of the reels whensubstantially filled with the given length of the strand to the otherempty reel, a single motor, a main shaft supported for rotation, meansdriven by the main shaft to drive the spindles, a variable speed unitdriven by the motor to drive the main shaft at decreasing speeds fromits maximum speed to cause driving of the reels at decreasing rates ofspeed with increasing lengths of turns of the strand on the reel beingfilled, a flywheel supported free to rotate on the main shaft, meansdriven by the motor to drive the flywheel at a speed faster than themain shaft, and an element actuated by the distributor when transferringthe strand from the filled reel to the empty reel to cause disconnectionof the flywheel from the motor and connect the flywheel to the mainshaft to cause acceleration of the main shaft and the empty reel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

